Want to win free stuff?

My friend over at Design Mom is having a give away every day from now until December 15th. All you have to do it leave a comment on her blog. Design Mom is a very talented graphic designer and mother of 5 kids. She finds the coolest stuff that she posts on her site. Everything from books to clothes to activities for children. I have found almost everything she posts relevant (or at least something I covet). She also has guest bloggers who give a different spin on things, including our very own Girl Con Queso. Go to the Blog Con Queso and spend an hour or two reading. She has a really fun blog AND it is pie month over there. How much more incentive do you need? Huh? My BFF Oh Judy was the first guest poster. She also has a really, really fun blog, but she doesn't post enough (hint, hint). That leads us to how I know Design Mom.

I have known G since our college days. I was roommates with Oh Judy, who married The Jolly Porter. The Jolly Porter, Design Mom's husband, and Handsome Young Pediatrician (not a blogger, but it should be...Wes, Emily, are you listening??????) were high school best friends and all went to the same college as I did. Handsome Young Pediatrician and his Talented and Lovely Wife (also a guest blogger at Design Mom--check out Emily's stuff) just moved from my town where they finished his residency in Peds. Whew. That was long.

In a nutshell, I have been fortunate to be surrounded with family members and friends who are incredibly talented. I can steal all their ideas and pass for a talented and creative woman too!!! I didn't know Design Mom very well, it was more like we had friends in common, but she is hard to forget. I remember when she and Oh Judy were having an art market as young college graduates. Design Mom and her husband (and at least one, maybe two?) kids were living in a basement apartment. I remember seeing a big cork board that she had on the wall that had some paint chips and fabric swatches on it. I don't know if she had them for herself or for a client, but I remember that they were these beautiful shades of blue (that really cool teal and ice blue that is so hip right now) and yellows. Not "Kountry Kute" blue and yellow (which was the style in our college town, along with tole painting and kitchens decorated with pigs). But the exact shades of blue and buttery yellow that I want to do in my kitchen right now. It was such a revelation to me, color and simplicity and style. She has ALWAYS been hip and talented with an eye for the beautiful. I bought one of her Christmas prints that year and took it back the tiny apartment that my husband and I lived in at Princeton. We were newlyweds and it was some of the very first "art" we owned. I even bought a rug to match it. It set off the cinderblock shelves nicely. :-)


I bought one of her Christmas prints that day and it still comes out every year. Do yourself a favor and go visit Design Mom.

P.S. I didn't feel like doing the little HTML thing that lets you link to a word, it takes too long and I am babysitting one million kids at my house right now. And the baby is crying. All the blogs I talked about (if they exist) are on my sidebar. Happy reading.